US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Recites Pulp Fiction Monologue as Biblical Prayer

Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of Defense, recited an almost word-for-word adaptation of a monologue from Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film "Pulp Fiction" during an official Pentagon prayer service on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, presenting it to those gathered as a biblical verse from the Book of Ezekiel. Hegseth delivered the passage at a monthly Christian prayer meeting at the Department of Defense headquarters, telling the audience that the text had been used by the Combat Search and Rescue team known as "Sandy One" during a recent operation in Iran. He introduced the passage by saying, "They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17," before inviting those present to bow their heads and pray with him. The error was first identified by A Public Witness, a blog dedicated to the intersection of religion and politics, and quickly spread across international media.

From Tarantino hitman to Pentagon prayer hall The passage Hegseth recited bore unmistakable resemblance to the monologue delivered by Jules Winnfield, the hitman character played by Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction," which the character speaks immediately before killing a man. Hegseth's version replaced "righteous man" with "downed airman," swapped "charity and good will" for "camaraderie and duty," and concluded with "you will know my call sign is Sandy One when I lay my vengeance upon thee" — mirroring the film's line "you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." The actual verse of Ezekiel 25:17, as rendered in the King James Bible, reads only: "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 full text Hegseth read aloud was: „The path of the downed airman 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 camaraderie and duty, shepherds 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. Amen.” — Pete Hegseth via G4Media The incident drew immediate mockery on social media, with users posting side-by-side clips of Hegseth's prayer service and Jackson's scene from the film.

Tarantino borrowed the verse from a 1970s Japanese film The origins of the "Pulp Fiction" monologue are themselves layered. According to reporting by G4Media citing Variety, Tarantino drew the fake verse — including its erroneous attribution to Ezekiel — from the 1973 Japanese martial arts film "Bodyguard Kiba," substituting "Chiba the Bodyguard" with "the Lord." The monologue appears three times in "Pulp Fiction" and functions in the film as a meditation on violence and the possibility of redemption for the character Jules Winnfield. The prayer service at the Pentagon was held in the context of a rescue mission that, according to sources including Digi24 and Rolling Stone, recovered downed American pilots from Iran earlier in April 2026. Hegseth attributed the "CSAR 25:17" text to the lead coordinator of the Sandy One mission, suggesting he may not have been aware of its cinematic origins. Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" was released in 1994 and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bruce Willis, among others. The Ezekiel 25:17 monologue, delivered by Jackson's character Jules Winnfield, became one of the most quoted passages in modern cinema. The verse as it appears in the film is a heavily embellished and largely fictional expansion of the actual biblical text, which is a brief declaration of divine vengeance against the Philistines.

Hegseth compared journalists to Pharisees at Thursday briefing The Pentagon prayer service was not the only instance that week in which Hegseth drew on religious framing. During a press briefing on Thursday morning, April 16, 2026, Hegseth compared members of the Pentagon press corps to the Pharisees — the New Testament figures who opposed Jesus — according to reporting by Rolling Stone citing Mediaite. The comparison effectively cast President Donald Trump in the role of Jesus in Hegseth's analogy, a framing that drew additional criticism. Hegseth, described by El País and Rolling Stone as a Christian nationalist, has repeatedly invoked scripture to frame the ongoing US-Israel military campaign against Iran as a conflict with religious dimensions. The cumulative incidents — the Pulp Fiction prayer and the Pharisees comparison — intensified scrutiny of Hegseth's public conduct and his use of religious language in an official government capacity.