In mid-April 2026, social media users circulated a clip of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that they claimed showed him quoting a fake Bible verse from the movie "Pulp Fiction" during a Pentagon worship service.
In the 1994 crime drama directed by Quentin Tarantino, Jules Winnfield, played by actor Samuel L. Jackson, cited a fictionalized version of Ezekiel 25:17. Posts on platforms like X, Facebook and TikTok alleged that Hegseth's prayer came from Jackson's dialogue in that scene.
Some posts included a side-by-side of Hegseth's speech and the associated dialogue from "Pulp Fiction."
This video of Hegseth is real, as confirmed by the Department of Defense. His prayer during an April 15 service at the Pentagon closely resembled the fictionalized Bible verse that Winnfield recites in a "Pulp Fiction" scene just before he executes a crooked business partner of his mob boss. As such, we have rated the authenticity of this video and what it shows as true.
Hegseth did not introduce the prayer as a real Bible verse. During his speech, he said the lead mission planner for the "Sandy One" Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in Iran "delivered" the prayer to him "a couple of days ago." The Defense Department has not released the name of the lead mission planner to the media.
"This prayer was recited by Sandy One, which is one of the Sandies, to all Sandies, all those A-10 crews prior to all CSAR missions, but especially this CSAR mission that happened in real time,"
A "Sandy" is a military rescue escort team that puts themselves between a survivor being rescued and the enemy. "A-10" references the aircraft used by the Sandy teams during the Iran rescue mission.
Real video, as confirmed by DOD
In an April 16 statement on X, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the prayer 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," Parnell wrote. "Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality."
A full, roughly half-hour video of Hegseth leading the Pentagon's monthly prayer service is available on a YouTube page called Defense Now. The prayer in question begins at 7:09:
(As of this writing, a full video of the prayer service from a mainstream news source was not available. That may be due to the Pentagon's ongoing efforts to impede press access for legacy media, while allowing access to conservative and pro-Trump outlets. Still, well-known news sites, such as USA Today, have shared a short clip of Hegseth's prayer.)
Hegseth's prayer, 'Pulp Fiction' and Ezekiel 25:17
Here's what Hegseth said, in full:
So this prayer was recited by Sandy One, which is one of the Sandies, to all Sandies, all those A-10 crews prior to all CSAR missions, but especially this CSAR mission that happened in real time.
They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17. 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 comradery 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. Amen.
For a word-by-word comparison, here's what Jackson's character said in "Pulp Fiction." For clarity, the words that match Hegseth's prayer are
There's a passage I got memorized, seems appropriate for this situation: Ezekiel 25:17. 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 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 you.
Here's the full (rated R) video of the scene, with Jackson's fictional citation of Ezekiel 25:17 starting at 0:59:
As shown above, Jackson's character specifically tees up the "path of the righteous man" dialogue by saying the entire quote comes from Ezekiel 25:17, even though the actual Ezekiel 25:17 passage is much shorter.
Furthermore, the prayer Hegseth says came from the Sandy One team essentially includes minor changes to Jackson's monologue in order to fit with a military theme. It swaps "righteous man" from Jackson's fictionalized Bible verse with "downed aviator," "charity and good will" to "comradery and duty," "poison" to "capture" and "my name is the Lord" to "my call sign is Sandy One."
For reference, here's the actual Ezekiel 25:17 verse in the King James version 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.
As demonstrated, the last two lines from both Hegseth's prayer and Jackson's monologue appear to be inspired by the actual Ezekiel 25:17 verse.
In sum, Hegseth delivered a prayer that is almost identical to a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction." However, Hegseth did not claim he was quoting Ezekiel 25:17, so whether he "misquoted" Ezekiel 25:17 is up to individual interpretation.