Here Oliver Cowdery initially omitted the narrative connector now when he copied the text here from 𝓞 into 𝓟. Virtually immediately he supralinearly inserted the now in 𝓟 (there is no change in the level of ink flow). 𝓞 is not extant for the first part of this sentence, but there is room for the now in the lacuna. Alma frequently uses the narrative now in this part of the text. For instance, in his instructions to Corianton (Alma 39–42), there are a total of 22 occurrences of now-initial sentences (including this one in Alma 40:3), with 11 of them occurring in this chapter. There are also 22 sentences that begin with and now in Alma 39–42. Here in Alma 40:3, the critical text will follow the corrected reading in 𝓟.
Summary: Maintain in Alma 40:3 the sentence-initial now, the almost immediately corrected reading in 𝓟; Alma begins many sentences with now when speaking to Corianton.