Pete Hegseth reads fake Bible verse from 'Pulp Fiction' during prayer service, likens press to Pharisees

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth read a fake imprecatory Bible verse similar to one from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” during the monthly Pentagon prayer service on Wednesday, hours before House Democrats filed six articles of impeachment against him over the Iran war.

While speaking about the mission to rescue American pilots shot down over Iran on Good Friday, Hegseth urged his audience to join him in praying a prayer he said was used by “Sandy 1,” the call sign for the commander who coordinates the search and recovery of downed aircrews.

“This prayer was recited by Sandy 1, which is one of the Sandies, to all Sandies — all those A-10 crews — prior to all CSAR [Combat Search and Rescue] missions, but especially this CSAR mission, which happened in real time,” Hegseth said.

“They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” Hegseth continued, as the Pentagon’s livestream cut to some audience members laughing.

Pete Hegseth quoted a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction during a Pentagon sermon.pic.twitter.com/1o3CJiJYRF

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 16, 2026

“So the prayer is CSAR 25:17, and it reads — and pray with me, please — ‘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, shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children,’” he said.

“‘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 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. And amen,’” he added.

A viral video clip shared by Russia Today showed how closely the CSAR 25:17 prayer aligned with a famous scene from "Pulp Fiction," in which a character played by Samuel L. Jackson quotes what he describes as Ezekiel 25:17 before shooting someone dead.

The famously violent and profanity-laden film intentionally misquotes the verse in homage to a similar fake passage in "Bodyguard Kiba," a 1973 Japanese martial arts movie.

Ezekiel 25 describes God’s judgment against Judah's neighboring nations. Ezekiel 25:7 actually reads: "I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them."

Some X users expressed offense at Hegseth’s use of the misquoted Bible verse, with some presenting it as the latest in a series of recent religious missteps by the Trump administration.

Taylor Marshall, a Roman Catholic podcaster, described the incident as “poisonous theology — reaching to Paula White levels.” White, who leads the White House Faith Office, also drew backlash when she compared Trump to Jesus during an Easter luncheon at the White House during Holy Week.

Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday that Hegseth “shared a custom prayer, referenced as the CSAR prayer, used by the brave warfighters of Sandy-1 who led the daylight rescue mission of Dude 44 Alpha out of Iran, which was obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction.”

“However, both the CSAR prayer and the dialogue in Pulp Fiction were reflections of the verse Ezekiel 25:17, as Secretary Hegseth clearly said in his remarks at the prayer service. Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality,” he added.

Hegseth has raised eyebrows in recent months for repeatedly invoking Christianity and biblical rhetoric to suggest God’s favor rests on U.S. military action in Iran and elsewhere.

During a Thursday press briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth accused “the legacy Trump-hating press” of being like the Pharisees. He said the thought came to him last Sunday while listening to a sermon on their hard-hearted response to Jesus Christ's healing of a withered hand in Mark 3. He appeared to liken Trump to Jesus in his analogy.

“Your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors. The Pharisees scrutinized every good act in order to find a violation, only looking for the negative,” he told reporters.

Pete Hegseth appears to compare Donald Trump and the US military to Jesus performing miracles, says the press are like the blind Pharisees pic.twitter.com/LV7GKqAEUZ

— John Loftus (@JohnCFLoftus1) April 16, 2026

During an April 8 press briefing, Hegseth declared “decisive military victory” in Iran, which he attributed to divine providence. In a press briefing at the White House on Easter Monday, he likened the rescue of the downed American pilot to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During last month’s prayer service at the Pentagon, Hegseth quoted from the imprecatory psalms and read from a U.S. military chaplain’s prayer invoking divine wrath against U.S. enemies.

Hegseth’s home denomination is the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), which has been influenced by the Christian Reconstructionism of the late Calvinist theonomist theologian Rousas J. Rushdoony.