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16. A day's trip from Damascus, he waited for two days in the rocks and prepared his concoction.
17. During the night he saw a large group of armed men coming, among them Saul, the persecutor of his disciples.
18. When they were near, he struck a fire and tossed it into his concoction, thus producing a powerfully bright light that blinded the group.
19. Jmmanuel continued stoking the flaring concoction, so that powerful flashes of light, stars and fireballs shot into the sky or fell from it. All this was accompanied by thundering booms and loud hissing sounds, as if from gigantic dragons and serpents.
20. The thundering and booms subsided, as did the hissing. The blinding flashes and the multi-coloured fires died down, yet stinging smoke continued to cover the land and caused the group to cough and shed tears.
21. Then Jmmanuel called out, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute my disciples?"
22. But Saul was afraid and fell to the ground, crying out, "Who are you who speaks to me like this?"
23. And Jmmanuel answered, saying, "I am Jmmanuel whom you persecute in your hatred, along with my disciples.
24. "Get up. Go into the city and let yourself be taught how you should live."
25. Saul was very afraid and said, "But you are the one who was crucified. So you are dead and must be speaking to me as a ghost."
26. However Jmmanuel did not answer him. He left and headed for Damascus.
27. But the men who were Saul's companions stood still, petrified with fear, because they also believed they had heard a ghost.
28. Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes. However, he saw nothing because his eyes were blinded, for he had stared directly into the bright light Jmmanuel had generated.
29. His companions then took him by the hand and led him to Damascus,
30. and for three days he saw nothing, ate nothing and drank nothing.
31. However, one of Jmmanuel's disciples came to Saul and preached to him the new teachings, and gradually he accepted them.
32. But because of the events by the rocks, his mind was slightly confused. He misunderstood much and spoke incoherently.
33. Somewhat confused in his mind, he went away and preached incoherent nonsense to the people.
34. Jmmanuel, however, remained in Damascus another thirty days and made it known that he would be leaving the country and traveling to the land of India.
35. His mother Mary came from Nazareth and set out on the road to the land of India with Jmmanuel, his brother Thomas, and Judas Iscariot.
36. And Jmmanuel began to preach again and teach the people wherever he encountered them along the way and in any settlement he came to.
37. There was a new strength within him and his teachings were more powerful than before.