The two words at the end of the verse are μετάνοιαν (meh-tah-noi-ahn) and χωρῆσαι (core-eh-sigh). The first word means repentance and is nearly always translated that way. The full def. is “a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done.” The second word means “contain, make room, receive, have a place,” and the full def. is “to leave space (which may be filled or occupied by another), to make room, give place, yield.”
This is an example of one act being expressed by two Greek words that doesn’t flow directly into English as smoothly as many other words do, but “repentance” is the best Greek-to-English translation. I can’t speak for the Latin translation because I don’t know Latin (nor do I really feel like I need to), so it’s entirely possible that something happened a little differently in the Greek-to-Latin process and something was lost between that translation and the additional step between Latin and English. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen that sort of thing happen with no outright errors in any step- although it’s also quite possible that it is simply an error of translation. We don’t really have to deal with it, though, because we know what the best translation is going straight from Greek to English. And the best translation is “repentance.”
I guess some of this has to do with the way English has changed over time, too. There was a time when penance and repentance were used far more interchangeably. If you look in the Wycliffe translation, you’ll see 53 uses of the word “penance.” John did a baptism of penance (mentioned at least a half-dozen times), Christians are supposed to “do ye works unto penance,” you should do penance for the kingdom “of heavens” is at hand, there’s more joy in heaven over one man’s penance than over 99 who don’t need penance, if your brother does penance you should forgive him, Esau found no “place of penance” though he sought it with tears. But that just has to do with how English has changed over the last 500 years.
No translator from this century or the last one can legitimately argue that “penance” (as it is now used) is a better option than “repentance” in these kinds of situations. That’s a simple fact of life, and it’s borne out in every major translation of the modern day. “Reformation” and “turned from their evil ways” are the only minor deviations that you’ll see in some of the more dynamic translations. “Penance” is only used in translations that were made when the English word “penance” meant something different from what it means today.
If you really want to look up the Latin and find out if the right Latin word was used, have at it. I don’t think your buddy’s going to care, though. Latin means a lot more to you than it does to him.
