God’s Word Translation
Acts 14:17
17Yet, by doing good, he has given evidence of his existence. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and your lives with happiness.”
Acts 14:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
Context of Acts 14:17
15and said, “Men, what are you doing? We’re human beings like you. We’re spreading the Good News to you to turn you away from these worthless gods to the living God. The living God made the sky, the land, the sea, and everything in them. 16In the past God allowed all people to live as they pleased. Yet, by doing good, he has given evidence of his existence. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and your lives with happiness.” 18Although Paul and Barnabas said these things, they hardly kept the crowd from sacrificing to them. 19However, Jews from the cities of Antioch and Iconium arrived in Lystra and won the people over. They tried to stone Paul to death and dragged him out of the city when they thought that he was dead.
Read all of Acts 14Acts 14:17 word by word
καίτοι οὐκ ἀμάρτυρον αὐτὸν ἀφῆκεν ἀγαθουργῶν, οὐρανόθεν ὑμῖν ὑετοὺς διδοὺς καὶ καιροὺς καρποφόρους, ἐμπιπλῶν τροφῆς καὶ εὐφροσύνης τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Neverthelessκαίτοιγεkaitoige · and yet/althoughG2544
- he leftἀφίημιaphiēmi · to release: leaveG863
- notοὐou · noG3756
- himselfἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
- without witnessἀμάρτυροςamarturos · without witnessG267
- in that he did goodἀγαθοποιέωagathopoieō · to do goodG15
- and gaveδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
- usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- rainὑετόςhuetos · rainG5205
- from heavenοὐρανόθενouranothen · from heavenG3771
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- fruitfulκαρποφόροςkarpophoros · fruitbearingG2593
- fillingἐμπίμπλημιempiplēmi emplēthō · to fill upG1705
- heartsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- heartsκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
- with foodτροφήtrophē · foodG5160
- gladnessεὐφροσύνηeuphrosunē · joyG2167
- ·καιρόςkairos · time/right timeG2540
Cross-references for Acts 14:17
- Acts 17:27He has done this so that they would look for God, somehow reach for him, and find him. In fact, he is never far from any one of us.
- Psalms 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky displays what his hands have made.
- Romans 1:19What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them.
- Psalms 36:5O Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
- Psalms 52:1Why do you brag about the evil you’ve done, you hero? The mercy of God lasts all day long!
- Psalms 104:24What a large number of things you have made, O Lord! You made them all by wisdom. The earth is filled with your creatures.
- Psalms 145:9The Lord is good to everyone and has compassion for everything that he has made.
- Luke 6:35Rather, love your enemies, help them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward. You will be the children of the Most High God. After all, he is kind to unthankful and evil people.
- Leviticus 26:4“I will give you rain at the right time. The land will produce its crops, and the trees in the field will produce their fruit.
- Deuteronomy 11:14I will send rain on your land at the right time, both in the fall and in the spring. Then you will gather your own grain, new wine, and olive oil.
- Deuteronomy 28:12The Lord will open the heavens, his rich storehouse, for you. He will send rain on your land at the right time and bless everything you do. You will be able to make loans to many nations but won’t need to borrow from any.
- 1 Kings 18:1A while later in the third year of the drought, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: “Present yourself to Ahab. I will allow rain to fall on the ground.”
- Job 5:10He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields.
- Job 37:6“He says to the snow, ‘Fall to the ground,’ and to the pouring rain, ‘Rain harder!’
- Job 38:26to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on a desert where there are no humans,
- Psalms 65:9You take care of the earth, and you water it. You make it much richer than it was. (The river of God is filled with water.) You provide grain for them. Indeed, you even prepare the ground.
Commentaries on Acts 14:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17He left not himself without witness - Though he gave the Gentiles no revelation of his will, yet he continued to govern them by his gracious providence; doing them good in general; giving then rain to fertilize their grounds, and fruitful seasons as the result; so that grass grew for the cattle and corn for the service of man. Filling our hearts with food - Giving as much food as could reasonably be wished, so that gladness, or general happiness, was the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Nevertheless - Though he gave them no revelation. He left not himself without witness - He gave demonstration of his existence and of his moral character. In that he did good - By doing good. The manner in which he did it, Paul immediately specifies. Idols did not do good; they conferred no favors, and were, therefore, unworthy of confidence. And gave us rain from heaven - Rain from above - from the clouds, Mark 8:11; Luke 9:54; Luke 17:29; Luke 21:11…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-18Verses 8-18 All things are possible to those that believe. When we have faith, that most precious gift of God, we shall be delivered from the spiritual helplessness in which we were born, and from the dominion of sinful habits since formed; we shall be made able to stand upright and walk cheerfully in the ways of the Lord. When Christ, the Son of God, appeared in the likeness of men, and did many miracles, men were so far from doing sacrifice to him, that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-18The apostles opposed the people's worship of idols and their attempt to offer sacrifices to them. They directed the people's worship to the living God. The apostles were representatives of God as they shared the good news of the Christian message.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1814-18. when ... Barnabas and Paul heard--Barnabas is put first here, apparently as having been styled the "Jupiter" of the company. they rent their clothes and ran in--rather (according to the true reading), "ran forth." among the people, crying out ... Sirs, why do ye these things?--This was something more than that abhorrence of idolatry which took possession of the Jews as a nation from the time of the Babylonish captivity: it was that delicate…Read the comment
Topics related to Acts 14:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Acts 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries