---
title: Revelation 22:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/revelation-22-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/revelation-22-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Revelation 22:17
testament: NT
section: Prophecy
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Revelation 22:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "And the spirit and the bride keep on saying, 'Come!' and let anyone hearing say, 'Come!' and let anyone thirsting come; let anyone who wishes take life's water free."

## JW Usage

Watchtower commentary frames Revelation 22:17 as a general invitation to truth-seekers to learn the gospel from Jehovah's Witnesses. The "anyone who wishes" is read as anyone willing to come to Jehovah's organisation; the "water of life" is the spiritual provision available through the Watchtower's publications and meetings. The two-class system is preserved because the verse is treated as the inclusive invitation, not as the abolition of the heavenly-versus-earthly hope distinction.

## Protestant Usage

Read the verse as the last invitation in the Bible. Four words to notice. (1) Anyone — no qualifying clause, no membership requirement, no organisational gate. (2) Free — the water of life costs nothing; any condition breaks the verse. (3) Spirit and bride — the invitation comes from God's Spirit and the church, not from the Governing Body. (4) The verse comes after the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14, so it is not undone by them; it is the final, universal call. The Watchtower's two-class system contradicts the plain language of this verse even in their own translation.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders to pneuma with lowercase "spirit" rather than capitalised "Spirit" (consensus ESV/NASB/NIV/KJV all capitalise as the Holy Spirit). The lowercase reflects the Watchtower doctrine that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal "active force" rather than a divine person — so pairing "the spirit and the bride" with personal action ("keep on saying") becomes awkward in any reading that denies the Spirit's personhood. Also "life's water" inverts the standard Greek genitive "water of life," subtly relocating the qualifier.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Revelation 22:17 — "Let Anyone Who Wishes Take Life's Water Free"](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/revelation-22-17-come.md) — Revelation 22:17 / John 7:37–38 [Salvation]