Then Uzziah was angry: The next sentence indicates that Uzziah was angry with the priests. Some versions make this explicit with the first mention of his anger (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant).

Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense: A censer was a small bowl or pan in which incense was burned. It was usually made of metal. It had a handle so that a person could carry it to the incense altar.

Leprosy broke out on his forehead …: Leprosy is the traditional translation of a Hebrew word that refers to a range of chronic and infectious skin diseases which the people of Israel feared greatly (see especially Lev 13–14). For the Israelites this condition was more than a disease; it made a person ritually impure or unclean before God. Scholars today agree that the Hebrew term does not signify what is known today as leprosy (Hansen’s disease). For this reason Good News Translation says “dreaded skin disease,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “virulent skin-disease.” According to Lev 13.40-44, the condition of the forehead was an important criterion for the diagnosis of what Revised Standard Version calls leprosy. Good News Translation highlights the suddenness with which the leprosy struck the king by using the word “immediately.” This idea is suggested in the Hebrew verb translated broke out, which may be rendered “suddenly appeared” (Contemporary English Version).

As in Good News Translation, translators may wish to reorder the elements in this verse to make it sound more natural and simpler in their language. It describes the following:

a. Uzziah emotional state (affirmed twice)
b. Uzziah’s activity
c. The disease that struck Uzziah
d. The presence of the priests
e. Uzziah’s position

Each of these elements must be present in a translation of this verse, but the order in which they appear will depend on what is most natural in the receptor language. New Century Version reorders the verse as follows:

• Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the LORD, and in his hand was a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .