Two Voices

“Zion & Babylon” is a powerful song by John Garrels. Although it came out in 2010, it wasn’t until April 7, 2025 at a prayer meeting that I first heard it. Many thanks to the devotional leader for sharing it!

The song tells its story through two very different voices. The first voice is that of someone who might once have walked with the Lord, but is now a slave to Babylon. I was blown away by the voice’s mournful closing line:

“Oh my Lord I’m your enemy”

The second voice is God calling slaves of Babylon to come home to him on Mount Zion. It ends with the line:

“If you can hear me then follow my voice”

You can watch a video of Josh Garrels performing his song at the end of this post. If you’d like to see the lyrics, you can find them here:

Lyrics

• Zion & Babylon lyrics (with link to audio)
• Zion & Babylon audio with lyrics

Which Kingdom?

The song presents us with a clear choice. Will we keep “betraying the Lord for blood money”? Do we “love our Babylon”? Or will we pursue the “Kingdom built with the blood of my son”?

Think about it as you check out Josh Garrels’ live performance:

“Zion & Babylon” Josh Garrels 2010 – YouTube (00:04:39)