Direct translation of nothing in books (6)
I believe the answer is:
orient
'direct' is the definition.
'translation of nothing in books' is the wordplay.
'translation of nothing' becomes 'rien' ('nothing' in French).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'books' becomes 'ot' (Old Testament).
'rien' going within 'ot' is 'ORIENT'.
(Other definitions for orient that I've seen before include "Align relative to compass points" , "Countries east of the Mediterranean" , "Determine position with regard to points of compass" , "Face towards the East?" , "The east as opposed to the Occident" .)