Acts 14:17

Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Paul and Barnabas speak to a Lycaonian crowd in Lystra that is preparing to sacrifice to them as gods. They interrupt the ritual to redirect the audience’s focus from themselves to the Creator who sustains life.

The words — The Greek phrase οὐκ ἀμαρτυρῶν αὐτὸν ἀφῆκεν (ouk amartyrōn auton aphēken) translates literally to "not leaving Himself without witness." It is paired with the participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agathourgōn), meaning "doing good," which describes God’s ongoing action.

The thread — This pattern of God’s self-revelation through the natural order appears in Romans 1:19, which states that what may be known about God is plain because He has made it plain. The direct provision of rain is also recorded in Job 5:10 and Joel 2:23.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to identify rain and seasonal harvest as intentional divine testimony rather than natural accident. It demands a practical shift from human-centered worship to acknowledging the Creator who actively supplies food and sustains life.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

Cross-references

Romans 1:19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
Joel 2:23 Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
Job 5:10 He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
Deuteronomy 11:14 then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
Isaiah 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
Leviticus 26:4 I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
Deuteronomy 8:12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.
Psalms 19:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Psalms 145:9 The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.