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During a worship service at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a prayer that might have sounded more familiar to Quentin Tarantino fans than Christians. That’s because it included a near-verbatim excerpt from Samuel L. Jackson’s famous Pulp Fiction monologue, which itself is a rewritten version of the verse Ezekiel 25:17.
Per USA Today, Hegseth said the prayer was shared to him by the lead planner of the Combat Search and Rescue operation, which recently rescued two Air Force crew members during the ongoing Iran operation. “They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” he said, before sharing the prayer:
“The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherd the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy One when I lay my vengeance upon thee, and amen.”
Here is the full Pulp Fiction quote, as recited by Jackson’s hitman character Jules. (Tarantino’s rewrite was a reference to the 1973 Japanese martial arts movie Bodyguard Kiba.)
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
And of course, here’s the actual text of Ezekiel 25:17, from the King James edition of the Bible:
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.
The original writers of the “CSAR 25:17” prayer may very well have known that they were quoting Pulp Fiction, but Hegseth certainly doesn’t seem to be aware of that fact. Check out the below clip, which mashes up his prayer with the original scene from the film.
Pete Hegseth quoted a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction during a Pentagon sermon.pic.twitter.com/1o3CJiJYRF
— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 16, 2026
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