4 Bible Verses about Tact

The men of Ephraim said to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they quarreled with him severely. And he said to them, "What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" And their {anger} against him subsided when {he said that}.

The men of Ephraim said to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they quarreled with him severely. And he said to them, "What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" And their {anger} against him subsided when {he said that}.

For [although I] am free from all [people], I have enslaved myself to all, in order that I may gain more. I have become like a Jew to the Jews, in order that I may gain the Jews. To those under the law [I became] as under the law ([although I] myself am not under the law) in order that I may gain those under the law. To those outside the law [I became] as outside the law ([although I] am not outside the law of God, but subject to the law of Christ) in order that I may gain those outside the law. read more.
To the weak I became weak, in order that I may gain the weak. I have become all [things] to all [people], in order that by all means I may save some.

So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces and sent [them] throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, "Whoever [is] not going out after Saul and after Samuel, so will it be done to his oxen." Then the fear of Yahweh fell on the people and they went out as one man.

However, some {worthless men} said, "How can this [man] deliver us?" So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.

Then the people said to Samuel, "Who [is] the one who asked, 'Will Saul reign over us?' Give the men to us that we may kill them." But Saul said, "No one will be put to death on this day, because {today} Yahweh has provided deliverance in Israel." Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal, and let us renew the kingship there." read more.
So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king there before Yahweh in Gilgal. They sacrificed fellowship offerings there before Yahweh. Then Saul rejoiced there greatly [along with] all the men of Israel.

For [although I] am free from all [people], I have enslaved myself to all, in order that I may gain more. I have become like a Jew to the Jews, in order that I may gain the Jews. To those under the law [I became] as under the law ([although I] myself am not under the law) in order that I may gain those under the law. To those outside the law [I became] as outside the law ([although I] am not outside the law of God, but subject to the law of Christ) in order that I may gain those outside the law. read more.
To the weak I became weak, in order that I may gain the weak. I have become all [things] to all [people], in order that by all means I may save some.

For if I want to boast, I will not be foolish, because I will be telling the truth, but I am refraining, so that no one can credit to me more than what he sees [in] me or hears anything from me,

Now we make known to you, brothers, the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, that with a great ordeal of affliction, the abundance of their joy and the extreme depth of their poverty have overflowed to the wealth of their generosity. I testify that [they gave] according to [their] ability, and beyond [their] ability, by their own choice, read more.
requesting of us with much exhortation the favor and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints, and not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and [then] to us, by the will of God. So we urged Titus that, just as he had previously begun [it], thus he would also complete for you this [act of] grace. But just as you excel in everything--in faith and in speaking and in knowledge and with all diligence and in the love from us [that is] in you--so may you excel in this grace also. I am not saying [this] as a command, but proving the genuineness of your love by means of the diligence of others.

For it is unnecessary for me to write to you concerning the ministry to the saints, because I know your readiness [to help], [concerning] which I keep on boasting to the Macedonians about you, that Achaia has been ready [to help] since last year, and your zeal has stirred up the majority [of them]. But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you would not prove to be empty in this case, so that you may be prepared just as I was saying, read more.
lest somehow if Macedonians should come with me and find you unprepared, we--{not to speak of you}--would be humiliated in connection with this project. Therefore I considered [it] necessary to urge the brothers that they should go on ahead to you and make arrangements in advance for your generous gift that was promised previously, so this would be prepared as a generous gift and not as grudgingly granted.

Then David ordered the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers [as] singers with instruments of song, musical instruments, stringed instruments, and cymbals, {raising their voices for joy}. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel, and from his brothers, Asaph the son of Berekiah, and from the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; and with them their brothers [of] the second [rank], Zechariah the son, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-Edom and Jeiel. read more.
Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were] to sound bronze cymbals; Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah [were to play] on harps according to Alamoth; and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah [were to play] lyres, directing according to the Sheminith. And Kenaniah, chief of the Levites in singing, [was to be] an instructor in singing because he understood. And Berekiah and Elkanah [were] gatekeepers for the ark. And Shebaniah, Jehoshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Elizezer the priests {sounded the trumpets} before the ark of God. And Obed-Edom and Jehiah [were] gatekeepers for the ark.

Then a wise woman from the city called out, "Listen, listen! Please speak to Joab [to] come near here so that I may speak to you." Then he came near to her, and the woman asked, "[Are] you Joab?" And he said, "I [am]." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your servant." He said, "I [am] listening." Then she said, "In former times, {they would always say}, 'By all means, let them inquire in Abel,' and so they settled things. read more.
I [am] one of the faithful representatives of Israel. You [are] seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow the inheritance of Yahweh?" Then Joab answered and said, "Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow or I should destroy. That is not the matter. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name [is] Sheba the son Bicri, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give only him to us, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Look, his head [is] being thrown down to you over the wall." The woman went to all of the people with her wise plan, so they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bicri and threw [it] to Joab. Then he blew the horn and dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

Then Abigail {quickly took} two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes, and she put [them] on the donkeys. Then she said to her servants, "Go ahead before me; look, I am coming after you," but she did not tell her husband Nabal. {And then}, [as] she [was] riding on the donkey and [was] going down the ravine of the mountain, David and his men [were] coming down to meet her, and she met them. read more.
Now David had said, "Surely {in vain} I guarded all that this fellow had in the desert. And nothing was missed of all that [was] his, but he returned evil against me in place of good! {May God severely punish the enemies of David} and again do thus if I leave behind {anything that is his} until the morning, [not even] {one male}!" When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell on her face before {David's anger}, and she bowed down to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, "On me, my lord, [be] the guilt! Please let your female servant speak {to you personally}! Hear the words of your female servant! Please do not let my lord set his heart against {this worthless man}, Nabal; for as his name, so [is] he. Nabal [is] his name, and stupidity [is] with him! But I, your female servant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. So then, my lord, {as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives}, since Yahweh restrained you from bloodguilt {by taking matters into your own hand}, so then, may your enemies be like Nabal, even {those who seek to do my lord harm}. So then, this gift which your female servant has brought to my lord, may it be given to the young men {who follow my lord}. Please forgive the transgression of your female servant, because Yahweh will certainly make a lasting house for my lord, because my lord [is] fighting the battles of Yahweh, and evil will not be found in you {as long as you live}. Should a man arise to pursue you and to seek your life, may the life of my lord be wrapped in the pouch of the living with Yahweh your God. But as for the life of your enemy, he will sling it from within the pocket of the sling! {And then} when Yahweh has done for my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you as leader over Israel, then this will not be an obstacle for you or a stumbling block of conscience for my lord [either] by the shedding of blood without cause or by {my lord taking matters into his own hands}. And when Yahweh does good to my lord, then remember your female servant." Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has sent you this day to meet me! And blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you who have prevented me this day from bloodguilt and [from] delivering myself by my own hand. But {as Yahweh lives}, the God of Israel who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been {one male} left alive for Nabal by the light of morning!" Then David took from her hand what she had brought for him, and he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have {granted your request}." Then Abigail went to Nabal, and look, {he was holding a feast} in his house like the feast of the king. {Nabal was enjoying himself}, and he [was] very drunk, so she did not tell him a thing, {nothing at all}, until the light of morning. {And then} in the morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these words. Then his heart died {within him}, and he became like a stone.

When David heard this afterwards, he said: "I and my kingdom [are] innocent {before Yahweh} forever [for] the blood of Abner the son of Ner. May [the blood] come down on the head of Joab and all the house of his father. {May the house of Joab never lack} [one with] a bodily discharge or [one with] leprosy or [one who] grasps the distaff or [one who] falls by the sword or [one who is] lacking food." So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed Asahel, their brother, at Gibeon in the battle. read more.
David said to Joab and to all the people who [were] with him, "Tear your clothing and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." Now King David [was] following after the bier. And they buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. The king sang a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner have died the death of a fool? Your hands [were] not tied and your feet [were] not in contact with bronze fetters. You have fallen as one who falls before sons of wickedness." Then {all the people wept over him again}. Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down." All the people noticed, and it [was] good in their eyes, as everything that the king did [was] good in the eyes of all the people. Then all the people and all of Israel realized on that day that {the king had not desired} to kill Abner the son of Ner.

so that you may approve what is superior, in order that you may be sincere and blameless in the day of Christ, having been filled [with the] fruit of righteousness which [comes] through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Now I want you to know, brothers, that {my circumstances} have happened instead for the progress of the gospel, read more.
so that my imprisonment in Christ has become known in the whole praetorium and to all the rest, and most of the brothers, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, dare [even] more to speak the word without fear. Some even because of envy and strife preach Christ, but some also because of good will. The latter [do so] from love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction in my imprisonment. {What is the result?} Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. But also I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out to me for deliverance through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my eager expectation and hope, that I will be put to shame in nothing, but with all boldness, even now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me to live [is] Christ and to die [is] gain. But if [it is] to live in the flesh, this [is] fruitful work for me, and which I will prefer [I do] not know.

Joab the son of Zeruiah realized that the mind of the king [was] on Absalom. So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, "Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself [with] oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for {a long time}. Then you must go to the king and speak to him according to this word." [Thus] Joab put the words in her mouth. read more.
So the Tekoite woman spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance. She said, "Help me, O king!" Then the king asked her, "{What do you want}?" And she said, "Truly I [am] a widow, and my husband [is] dead. Your servant had two sons, and they both fought in the open field, and there [was] no one {to part them}. One struck the other and killed him. And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, 'Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,' and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth." Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I myself will give the command concerning you." The Tekoite woman said to the king, "On me, my lord the king, [is] the guilt, and on the house of my father, but the king on his throne [is] innocent." The king said, "[Whoever] has spoken to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you again." Then she said, "Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, {to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill}, [so that they] not wipe out my son." He said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground." The woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." And he said, "Speak." The woman said, "But why have you plotted like this against the people of God? By speaking this word, he is guilty not to bring back his banished one. For {we must certainly die}, and [we are] as the waters spilled to the ground which cannot be gathered. God will not take a life but devises plans for a banished person not to be cast out from him. Now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, because the people made me afraid, and your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king, perhaps the king will grant the request of his servant. For the king will listen, to deliver his servant from the hand of the man [who seeks] to destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.' Your servant also thought, 'May the word of my lord the king {bring rest}, for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, {to sense what is good and what is bad}.' May Yahweh your God be with you." The king answered and said to the woman, "Please do not withhold from me a thing which I [am] about to ask you." The woman said, "Please let my lord the king speak." The king asked, "[Was] the hand of Joab with you in all of this?" The woman answered and said, "{As your soul lives}, my lord the king, surely [one cannot] go to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab himself commanded me, and he put all of these words in the mouth of your servant. In order {to change the situation}, your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord [has] wisdom, as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that [is] on the earth." Then the king said to Joab, "Look, please, I will grant this thing. Go and bring back the young man Absalom." Joab fell with his face to the ground and did obeisance. And he blessed the king, and he said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, [in] that the king has granted the request of his servant."

So the king said, "Bring me a sword," and they brought the sword before the king. Then the king said, "Divide the living child into two, and give half to the one and half to the other." Then the woman whose son [was] the living one spoke to the king because her compassion was aroused for her son, and she said, "Please, my lord, give her the living child, but certainly do not kill him!" The other one [was] saying, "As for me, so for you! Divide [him]!" read more.
Then the king answered and said, "Give the living child to her, and do not kill him; she [is] his mother." When all of Israel heard the judgment that the king had rendered, they {stood in awe} of the king, because they realized that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.

And [when] they heard [this], they began to glorify God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many ten thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealous adherents of the law. And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews [who are] among the Gentiles [the] abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise [their] children or to live according to [our] customs. What then {is to be done}? Doubtless they will all hear that you have come! read more.
Therefore do this that we tell you: {we have} four men who have [taken] a vow upon themselves. Take these [men] [and] purify yourself along with them and {pay their expenses} so that they can shave [their] heads, and everyone will know that [the things] which they had been informed about you are nothing, but you yourself also agree with observing the law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter [after] deciding they should avoid food sacrificed to idols and blood and [what has been] strangled and sexual immorality."

And [when] the city secretary had quieted the crowd, he said, "Ephesian men, for who is there among men who does not know the Ephesian city is honorary temple keeper of the great Artemis and of [her] image fallen from heaven? Therefore [because] these [things] are undeniable, it is necessary [that] you be quiet and do nothing rash! For you have brought these men [here] [who are] neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. read more.
If then Demetrius and the craftsmen [who are] with him have a complaint against anyone, the court days are observed and there are proconsuls--let them bring charges against one another! But if you desire anything further, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. For indeed we are in danger of being accused of rioting concerning today, [since there] is no cause in relation to which we will be able to give an account concerning this disorderly gathering!" And [when he] had said these [things], he dismissed the assembly.

And David consulted with the commanders of thousands and hundreds, with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel, "{If it seems good to you} and before Yahweh our God, {let us send word abroad} to our brothers who remain in all the land of Israel and [to] the priests and Levites with them in the cities with their pasturelands that they might be gathered to us. Then let us bring around the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul." read more.
And all the assembly agreed to do so, for the word was pleasing in the eyes of all the people.

Now [when] Paul realized that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he shouted out in the Sanhedrin, "Men [and] brothers! I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I am being judged concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead!" And [when] he said this, a dispute developed between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge [them] all.) read more.
And there was loud shouting, and some of the scribes from the party of the Pharisees stood up [and] contended sharply, saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man! But [what] if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" And [when] the dispute became severe, the military tribune, fearing lest Paul be torn apart by them, ordered the detachment to go down, take him away from their midst, and bring [him] into the barracks.

The men of Ephraim said to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they quarreled with him severely. And he said to them, "What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" And their {anger} against him subsided when {he said that}.

Paul wanted this one to go with him, and he took [him] [and] circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for [they] all knew that his father was Greek.

Esther did not disclose her people and her family because Modecai had charged her that she must not tell.

And Esther answered and said, "[This is] my petition and my request.

If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.