The Lord took away his sins: Good News Translation has “The Lord forgave David’s sin.”

And exalted his power for ever may be rendered “and made his power forever great.” The way this was done is given in the next two lines.

He gave him the covenant of kings and a throne of glory in Israel: Here covenant may be understood as “promise” since it is one-sided. Good News Translation “and his descendants” is not in the Greek text, but the addition helps clarify the meaning.

This verse may be reordered as follows:

• The Lord forgave David’s sins, and promised him that he and his descendants would reign in splendor over Israel. In this way the Lord made David’s power great for all time to come.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.