In verses 21-22 the author turns from talking about winter to discussing summer heat. Translators may want to consider leaving a space (stanza break) between verses 20 and 21.

He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness: This refers to drought, when rain hasn’t fallen for a long time. There is only the scorching heat of the sun day after day. Good News Translation combines consumes and burns up into one verb, “scorches,” and combines mountains and wilderness into the phrase “wilderness hills.” In some languages it will be necessary to make the “lack of rain” (drought) clear as follows: “He stops the rain and sends a fiery heat that scorches the wilderness hills.” For wilderness see the comments on 13.19.

And withers the tender grass like fire: During the drought the grass is so dry that it looks like it has been burned.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He stops the rain from falling and sends a fiery heat
that scorches the wilderness hills, turning the grass brown.

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.