During a recent worship service at the Pentagon, Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth offered a prayer modeled after Ezekiel 25:17—just not the version of it that appears in ancient manuscripts. Hegseth’s prayer instead took after a fictional version of the verse that appears in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.”
During an iconic scene in the 1994 film, a character played by Samuel L. Jackson recites the verse to another character before shooting him to death. Jackson’s character says that he’s “got this passage I’ve got memorized; sorta fits this occasion—Ezekiel 25:17.”
“The path of the righteous man 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 charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness,” Jackson’s character says, reciting the fictionalized verse. “For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children.”
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“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 that my name is the LORD when I lay my vengeance upon thee,” the character concludes before opening fire.
The real Ezekiel 25:17 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.’”
During a worship service at the Pentagon on Wednesday (April 15), Hegseth offered a prayer in honor of Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR).
“They call it CSAR 2517,” said Hegseth, “which, I think, is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17.”
“So the prayer is CSAR 2517. And it reads—and pray this with me, please,” Hegseth continued, “‘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.”
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“For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children,” Hegseth prayed. “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 callsign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
