Jeremiah 15:1-4 gives Jehovah's answer to the prophet's intercession in begging for mercy. Jehovah said to Jeremiah, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My soul would not turn toward this people. Send them out of My sight and let them go" (v. 1). God was so disgusted with Israel that He wanted them taken out of His sight. If they asked the prophet where they should go, he was to say, "Thus says Jehovah, / He who is for death to death, / And he who is for the sword to the sword, / And he who is for famine to famine, / And he who is for captivity to captivity" (v. 2). Jehovah went on to say that He would visit them with four kinds of punishment: the sword to slay, the dogs to tear, and the birds of heaven and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy (v. 3). Finally, He said that He would make them a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem (v. 4).
Verses 5 through 9 are a record of the punishing Jehovah's sighing for His punished people. Verse 6 is of particular interest. "You have forsaken Me, / Declares Jehovah. / You keep going backward, / And I have stretched out My hand against you / And have destroyed you; / I have become weary of repenting." Again and again God had determined to punish Israel, but He had repented. Now He told Jeremiah that He was weary of repenting and would repent no more. This shows how evil Israel had become and how patient God had been with them.