One of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s prayers drew attention once again on Wednesday when he recited a prayer at a Pentagon worship service that closely matched the fictional Ezekiel 25:17 monologue from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction, instead of the biblical verse he mentioned.
During the livestreamed service, Hegseth referred to the prayer as CSAR 25:17, which stands for Combat Search and Rescue. He explained that it was meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17. He then delivered a version that echoed the speech related to Samuel L. Jackson’s character Jules Winnfield.
Hegseth’s version started, “The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil man,” and concluded with, “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother.”
This wording differed greatly from the text of Ezekiel 25:17. According to The Independent, the biblical verse states: “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.”
Pete Hegseth quoted a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction during a Pentagon sermon.pic.twitter.com/1o3CJiJYRF
— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 16, 2026
The longer passage Hegseth used resembled the Pulp Fiction monologue closely, including phrases about “the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men” along with “the finder of lost children,” which do not appear in the scripture.
Hegseth used the prayer while discussing the Sandy 1 rescue mission, an operation that aimed to bring back downed pilots stranded in Iran earlier this month. Reports from the service indicated that he presented the prayer as something connected to the rescue effort and tailored it to a military context by changing phrases such as “downed aviator,” “camaraderie and duty,” and “my call sign is Sandy 1.”
“Even though they witnessed a literal miracle, it didn’t matter” — Hegseth offers an anecdote about being in church last Sunday to compare the American media to Pharisees pic.twitter.com/Xcx6sbEWGL
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2026
This incident comes after Hegseth’s Pentagon prayer services were already facing scrutiny. An AP report noted that Hegseth was hosting his first monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon since the Iran war started.
During the same service, he also prayed for “every round to find its mark” and requested “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
AP further reported that Hegseth has begun changing aspects of the military chaplain corps and that a lawsuit was filed this week by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
This lawsuit seeks records related to the Pentagon services, including internal communications, costs, guest lists, and employee complaints. The group’s president, Rachel Laser, stated that federal officials were using government positions and taxpayer-funded resources to promote a favored religion.
The prayer quickly circulated online, with social media users showing Hegseth’s prayer alongside a clip of the Pulp Fiction scene with one commenter describing the moment as “beyond embarrassing.”
