
Sharbil said: The kings of this world are conscious of this world only; but the King of all kings, He hath revealed and shown to us that there is another world, and a judgment in reserve, in which a recompense will be made, on the one hand to those who have served God, and on the other to those who have not served Him nor confessed Him. Therefore do I cry aloud, that I will not again sacrifice to idols, nor will I offer oblations to devils, nor will I do honour to demons!
Roberts, Alexander, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, eds. 1886. “Acts of Sharbil.” In Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries: The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, the Clementina, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First Ages, translated by B. P. Pratten, 8:680. The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
Context via Copilot and I read the whole writing myself and concur with Copilot:
Sharbil, formerly the chief pagan priest of Edessa, is standing before the Roman judge after publicly converting to Christianity. His declaration contrasts the limited, earthly authority of kings with the eternal authority of God, and it marks his final renunciation of idolatry before torture and execution.
