In his youth did he not kill a giant, and take away reproach from the people…?: See 1 Sam 17.49-51. Grammatically, this whole verse is a single question, the implied answer to which is “Yes.” Most translators will find it easier to follow Good News Translation in making this rhetorical question into two statements. These two lines are translated as the first statement. “To rescue his people,” however, is not quite the point. By killing the giant, David relieved his people of shame. New English Bible expresses this nicely as “restore the honour of his people.” So these lines may be rendered “When he was still a boy, he restored the honor of his people by killing a giant” or “… he brought honor [or, face] back to his people by killing a giant.”

When he lifted his hand with a stone in the sling and struck down the boasting of Goliath: Good News Translation does very well with this. Instead of “took aim,” we could say “whirled it around his head” or “slung it.” The sling was a weapon, a long strip of leather, both ends of which were held in one hand. A stone was placed in the sling, which was then whirled around the head. One end of the sling was then released, and the stone went flying.

It is possible to restructure the clauses of this verse as follows:

• When David was a boy, he put a stone in his sling, whirled it around his head, and hurled the stone. It killed the boastful giant Goliath. By doing this he gave honor [or, face] back to his people.

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.