Augustine of Hippo : Though we sometimes hear the expression "God changed his mind" or even read in the figurative language of Scripture that "God repented," we interpret these sayings not in reference to the decisions determined on by almighty God but in reference to the expectations of man or to the order of natural causes. — City of God 14.11 Augustine of Hippo : And the Lord gave up doing the evil he had said he was going to do to his people. The evil here means the pain, as in that passage: And his death was considered as a wrong (Sab 3,2). According to this interpretation, it is said that both good and evil come from God (Cf Si 11,14), but not referring to the malice through which men are evil. Because God is not evil, but he punishes the wicked with evils, because it is just. — QUESTIONS ON EXODUS, Q. 143 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)