Before judgment, examine yourself: In this context Before judgment clearly refers not to a person exercising judgment, but to being judged. The judge, as the next line makes clear, is “the Lord” (Good News Translation). Examine yourself means to look at your own attitudes and actions, to see whether they are good or bad. In other words, you should honestly try to judge yourself before God judges you. Good News Translation effectively reverses the two clauses in this line, saying “Examine your conscience before the Lord judges you.” The idea is not to prevent the Lord from judging you; Good News Translation does not mean “Examine your conscience or else the Lord will judge you.” It is assumed that the Lord will judge; see the comments on the last line in the preceding verse. An alternative model for this line and the previous one is “ … Before you get sick, make sure that you have medicine at hand. Before the Lord judges you, examine your attitudes and actions carefully.”

And in the hour of visitation you will find forgiveness: The hour of visitation refers to the Lord’s coming in judgment; compare 16.18. Good News Translation makes it clear that this phrase refers to the time of God’s judgment in the preceding line by translating “when that time comes.” Just as the Lord is the one who judges (judgment), so is he the one who forgives (forgiveness). Good News Translation makes this explicit with “he will forgive you.” But the whole line may be made clearer by saying “Then, when he comes to judge you, he will forgive you.”

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.