Come here, stranger, prepare the table: The translator’s aim in verses 26-27 is to give the proper tone to the commands given. In this verse the commands are given by the guests and in the next verse by the host. They should sound rude and condescending. They are not polite. Good News Translation begins with the one word address “Stranger!” Even better would be “Boy!” or “You there!” These sound rude in English; in polite speech a person would be addressed by name, or by a title of courtesy such as “Sir.” Prepare the table refers to getting the table ready for a meal; the English idiom is “set the table” (Good News Translation).

And if you have anything at hand, let me have it to eat: This line is probably going to work best translated as two separate rude remarks. Good News Translation is all right with “I want to eat what you’ve got there! Give it here!” New Jerusalem Bible is better with an impatient question and command: “what have you got ready? give me something to eat!” We could even say “Got something to eat there? Let me have it!”

An alternative model for this verse following from verse 25 is:

• … by saying things like, “You there! Set the table! Got something to eat? Let me have it.”

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.