Can God regret?

Answer: The question is likely to arise from Old Testament texts such as Genesis 6:5-6 "When the Lord saw how great was man's wickedness in earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he hade made man on earth, and his heart was grieved". This "regret", or as it is also understood as "repentance", is a human way of expressing Gods holiness which cannot tolerate sin. In 1 Samuel 15:29 we read, "The glory of Israel neither retracts nor repents, for he is not man that he should repent". This is a warning against a too literal understanding of the term. Much more often God’s "regret" or "repentance" refer to the calming of His anger and the withdrawing of His threat. See also Jeremiah 26:3, "Perhaps they will listen and turn back, each from his evil way, so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them for their evil deeds".