He was led aright in converting the people: King Josiah presided over a reformation of the religious life of Judah. New Revised Standard Version provides a good model here: “He did what was right by reforming the people,” although “people of Judah” or “nation” would be a better choice of words than “people.”

And took away the abominations of iniquity: This refers to Josiah’s ridding the land of pagan idols; see 2 Kgs 23.1-20. Abominations of iniquity is an expression for idolatry. Good News Translation helpfully clarifies this by rendering the line as “and removed the horrors of idolatry.” Another possible model is “he removed the disgusting idols.”

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.