Pete Hegseth's 'Pulp Fiction' sermon misfires

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being mocked online after quoting a line from Pulp Fiction during a sermon at the Pentagon.

Hegseth recited almost word-for-word a violent “prayer” featured in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 cult classic. The speech is loosely inspired by a Bible passage but is not an actual scripture quotation.

He said he had been told the prayer was titled “CSAR 25:17” and noted that it borrowed language from the biblical verse Ezekiel 25:17. 

However, he did not mention that the version he quoted closely mirrors a fictional monologue delivered by Samuel L. Jackson’s character before committing a killing in the film.

The “Bible verse” referenced in Pulp Fiction, Ezekiel 25:17, spoken by the character Jules Winnfield, is a heavily fictionalized adaptation rather than a direct quotation from the Bible.

The speech combines a brief portion of the actual biblical verse with dialogue inspired by the 1976 The Bodyguard starring Sonny Chiba.

The authentic wording of Ezekiel 25:17 in the King James Version (KJV) 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.”