He will come upon you terribly and swiftly: This line is the conclusion to the “because” clauses of verse 4 as well as the “because” clause of the next line. If translators have translated the lines of verse 4 as independent clauses, they will need to begin this verse with something like “And so…” to indicate the relation between the verses. Good News Translation unfortunately fails to name God as the source of the “punishment” it speaks of here. He will come upon you shows that God intends to punish. Translators could say “And so he will punish you both quickly and terribly [or, harshly].”

Because severe judgment falls on those in high places: The idea is that God demands a higher standard of righteousness from people of power than from those lower in society. Good News Translation has “Judgment is especially severe on those in power.” Or we may say something like “because he punishes those who are in power [or, who have power] especially severely.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Wisdom of Solomon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2004. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.