4:3a–b

And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live: Jonah became so angry that he asked the LORD to let him die. He preferred to die than live and see the LORD be merciful to his enemies, the people of Nineveh.

And now: The word translated And now is not used in the sense of “At this minute” here, and you should avoid using a word in your language which would give this impression. This expression in Hebrew indicates that what follows is Jonah’s conclusion based on what he said in 4:2, that is, if God was going to spare the people of Nineveh, Jonah would prefer to be dead. In English And now can have this function, but other versions use words that more directly introduce conclusions. For example:

So (God’s Word)
-or-
Therefore (Revised Standard Version)

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