Reflect upon what has been assigned to you: Revised Standard Version badly misses the point here; assigned to you would be better expressed as “commanded you.” The reference is surely to the commandments of the Torah, the Jewish Law—those are what have been assigned to the observant Jew. An American Translation translates “Think of the commands that have been given you.” New Revised Standard Version says “Reflect upon what you have been commanded.” New English Bible “Meditate on the commandments you have been given” has been simplified in Revised English Bible to “Meditate on what the Lord has commanded.” Good News Translation is quite specific with “Concentrate on the Law, which has been given to you.” Good News Translation‘s translation does a good job of placing this line in context. It means “When you ask serious questions about the meaning of life, focus on studying the Law and what the Lord has revealed there.”

For you do not need what is hidden is literally “for you have no need of hidden things.” The Lord is the one who has kept some knowledge hidden, kept some things from being known. In the author’s mind, the Lord has kept these things unknown to human beings by not revealing them in Scripture. New English Bible does well to translate “what the Lord keeps secret is no concern of yours.” And Good News Translation puts it plainly: “You do not need to know about things which the Lord has not revealed.” “Revealed” is a theological term that fits at this point, but for many translators it will be too technical. In such cases, “You do not need to know what the Lord has not told us about” is a good equivalent.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Concentrate on [or, Think about] the Law that the Lord has given you, and don’t worry about things that the Lord has not told you about.

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.