Posted on 04/16/2026 6:04:43 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth read a fake Bible quote from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 movie Pulp Fiction during a prayer service at the Pentagon on Wednesday.
Discussing the Sandy 1 rescue mission of a downed pilot in Iran this month, Hegseth (as first flagged by A Public Witness, a religion-themed Substack) urged his audience to join him in a prayer, which he claims was delivered at the beginning of the mission.
“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 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.”
He continued:
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 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 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”
While the prayer didn’t sound very much like Ezekiel 25:17, which — in the King James Bible — simply reads, “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,” it did bear a strong resemblance to a fake version of Ezekiel 25:17 quoted by the actor Samuel L. Jackson in Tarantino’s 1994 crime movie Pulp Fiction, just before his character shoots a man to death.
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men,” says Jackson in the movie. “Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, 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.”
Tarantino himself poached the fake Bible verse from the 1970s Japanese martial arts movie Bodyguard Kiba.
Yes, but unfortunately what you have between them is of very poor quality.
“This prayer was recited by Sandy 1”
So he quoted a prayer said by someone else prior to the mission who had probably used both the movie quote as partial inspiration to the crew that was going into harms way....I’m not seeing the issue beyond idiots trying to make it an issue.
Say what again
My guess is that Hegseth got the prayer from the close air support aviation community and did not think of it as authentically Biblical. There is a long tradition of military men mixing genuine piety with grim humor.
my girlfriend’s a vegetarian, which pretty much makes me a vegetarian too. But I do like a tasty burger
” idiots trying to make it an issue.”
EXACTLY correct.
https://www.youtube.com/live/7rijDjmdCXQ
Go to 6:10 for the preamble, and 7:20 for the “prayer.”
This isn’t Hegseth being funny; Dude had no idea he was reading from Hollywood.
And if he WAS trying to be a joker, he picked the wrong place to do it.
More like a clown vs joker.
And before anyone gets all huffy, you know if some Obamabot screwed up this royally he’d be keelhauled by FR.
Exactly! This is nothing but leftist Mediate trying to divide patriots over nothing.
See, here’s where you’re just being stubborn so you are digging your hole deeper and deeper. He didn’t misquote the Bible. He didn’t claim it was in the Bible. He only said it resembles a verse from the Bible (specifically Ezekiel), so that everyone would get the reference.
And yes, contrary to the Leftist idiots you republish, “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger ... you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee” does resemble “And I will execute with great vengeance and ... they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.”
If that is what the CSAR crews jokingly recite, then that is what they recite and Hegseth was quoting them verbatim.
Who cares whether or not it’s a real Bible verse? It’s instantly recognizable to most people as a much-quoted scene from Pulp Fiction, along with many other lines from that movie.
I’ve looked it up before and part of it is real. But they will never let Pete off the hook. Anything to stick the knife in.
Q: WHAT does the press know about prayer?
A: We can twist it any way we want.
They need to go watch the movie again and pay closer attention this time.
Another made up left wing mesdia scandal, and some here fell for it. Nowhere does Pete say it’s a direct quote from scripture. In fact he basically says he knows it’s not when he says he thinks it refers to.....
It’s a made up prayer for god’s sake. A serviceman’s prayer. There are millions of made up prayers by our warriors.
When a child says a bedtime prayer are they directly quoting scripture or making up their own prayer? Get a life, people!
It's the McD's Quarter Pounder w/cheese, because in Europe they have the metric system and don't know what a pound is (per the movie).
It’s the McD’s Quarter Pounder w/cheese, because in Europe they have the metric system and don’t know what a pound is (per the movie).
Check out the big brain on Moltke!
“Zed Is Dead,Baby.”
.
Tarantinos’ Best....
Next to “Inglorious Basturds”
That’s how it goes! 🤣
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