Job 10:21

before I depart, never to return, ¹  to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow, ² 

before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow,

Before I go—and I shall not return— To the land of darkness and deep shadow,

before I leave for the land of darkness and utter gloom, never to return.

Before I die and am buried, before I'm nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground,

Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,

before I go, never to return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness,

Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,

before I depart, never to return, ¹  to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow, ² 

¹ sn The verbs are simple, “I go” and “I return”; but Job clearly means before he dies. A translation of “depart” comes closer to communicating this. The second verb may be given a potential imperfect translation to capture the point. The NIV offered more of an interpretive paraphrase: “before I go to the place of no return.”

² tn See Job 3:5.