1 Kings 20, told in one lecture only (1127) but argued across five of its passages and used as the whole frame of the evening, which is why it is held here rather than let go. A prophet disguises himself with a napkin over his eyes and tells the king of Israel a story: I went into the midst of the battle, and a soldier brought me a man and said, keep him; if by any means he disappears, your life shall be for his life, or else you will give a talent of silver. And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king passes sentence - so shall your judgment be, you yourself have decided it - and only then does the prophet remove the cloth, so the king has condemned himself. Neville reads the man entrusted as the man you want to be, generic man, so the ladies are in the same boat: I give you a man to keep, what man? You tell me what you want to be, that's the man. And the failure is not wickedness but distraction - here is a story of man too busy, so busy he substitutes physical action for sustained thought. What does the losing is ordinary: maybe the morning's paper, maybe the news on the radio or the TV, maybe some little rumour persuaded me that things aren't as they ought to be. The sentence that follows is exact and self-executing: your life shall be for his life - you remain just as you are. The chapter is recommended twice by name, and he notes that the king succeeded and succeeded and was unfaithful only at the very end.