²⁴ Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.

⁷ So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.

²⁰ So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.

Paul’s Request for Prayer

3 Finally, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.

⁶ This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

²¹ The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.

¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’),^[a] and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell^[b] will not conquer it.

³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”

⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

²⁴ Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”