Pete Hegseth has been described as a Christian nationalist and often brings up God in his speeches. However, on Wednesday, he had quite a mishap while reading a passage from the Bible. The problem? The quote he used was not from the Bible, but from the 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Now, the Pentagon has responded.

After being away from the spotlight for some days, Pete Hegseth is making headlines again. This time, it’s about a misquote from the Bible.

On Wednesday, at the latest in the Secretary of War’s series of worship services at the Pentagon to bless the Iran war effort, Hegseth stood at a podium, delivering a prayer to the audience, explaining how they use religious teachings to inform the policy and military decisions they later make.

Hegseht continued with explaining how it reminded him of a prayer that was given to him by the person in charge of the latest combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission to locate and rescue the Air Force crew members that were shot down over Iran, and later retrieved.

Pete Hegseth quotes fake Bible passage from ‘Pulp Fiction’

However, it was a big problem. The quote Hegseth used was not from the BIble. Instead, it was a quote from a Bible passage, delivered by Samuel L. Jackson in the classic 1994 movie Pulp Fiction.

From the podium, Pete Hegseth read, “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.”

“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.”

In the movie, the character, played by Samuel L. Jackson, claimed the words came from the Bible passage Ezekiel 25:17.

Yes, it is based on the passage, but with some modifications.

The quote from Pulp Fiction states: “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.”

Mocked on social media

Sure, there are similarities between the passage from the BIble and the quote used in Pulp Fiction. However, it appears as if Hegseth got them mixed up.

The part of the Bible passage Ezekiel 25:17 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.”

Social media went into a frenzy after the Secretary of War’s mishap.

“The Pentagon is being run like a youth pastor who watched Pulp Fiction once and thought it was actual scripture,” one person wrote on X.

Another person wrote, “Thats quite an achievement. In one week Trump mocks Jesus, Vance mocks the Pope and Hegseth reads fake Bible quotes. Way to go boys.”

A third said, The only thing that should terrify you is that He didn’t know it was fake,” while a fourth joked, “By now, everyone has long figured out that Donald Trump and his crew are shooting a documentary-style sequel to Pulp Fiction 2.”

Another user added, “I feel like I’m watching a poorly scripted reality show when it comes to pretty much everything Trump administration related.”

The Pentagon responds

Not long after, the Pentagon gave a response. On X, Sean Parnell, assistant to the secretary of war for public affairs and chief Pentagon spokesman, wrote, “Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday 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.”

He continued, “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.”

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