Before you speak, learn: Before you talk about something, you should learn about it; in other words, “Know what you’re talking about before you start speaking” (Contemporary English Version).

And before you fall ill, take care of your health: Take care of your health is literally “heal yourself.” New American Bible, Luís Alonso Schökel, and Shekan take this line to mean “before sickness prepare the cure.” This is probably right, and to be preferred over Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation. The Hebrew original, which does not survive for this verse, may have said “before you become ill, look for a doctor,” which is the reading of the Syriac. The grammatical construction here assumes a sickness, just as the identical construction in the next line assumes a judgment. This line and the next one are parallel. You are going to get sick, so be prepared by having medicine at hand. You are going to be judged (verse 20a), so be prepared for it by examining your conscience. This line may be rendered “Before you get sick, make sure you have medicine at hand.”

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.