Do not set your heart on your wealth: Good News Translation correctly expresses the meaning here with “Don’t rely on money.”

Nor say, “I have enough”: This line is more problematic. This clearly is not advice to keep on getting more and more money. Rather, it is cautioning against the attitude that money is all you need. This is the first in a series of verses (1, 3, 4, 6) opening with the same form: “Do not say…” followed by a quotation. In each case Good News Translation will recast the sentence in indirect discourse. Here Good News Translation combines the two lines cleverly and accurately: “Don’t rely on money to make you independent.” Another approach may be “Don’t put all your confidence in money; it is not all you need.” At the end of this section in verse 8, the author will echo this verse to show just how little money matters in time of real need.

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.