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20 You shall not give the wife of your fellow citizen your deposit of semen for seed,[a] so that you become unclean with her.

21 You shall not dedicate any of your seed to Molek,[b] thereby defiling the name of your God. I am the Lord.

22 You shall not lie down with[c] a male as you do with a woman. It is an abomination.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 18:20 Literally to the wife of your fellow citizen you shall not give your laying down or deposit for seed. The meaning of your laying down is uncertain. This particular wording may be intended to exclude surrogate arrangements, so the translation retains a literal rendering. The expression your laying down occurs in 18:23; 19:20; and 20:15 without the mention of seed.
  2. Leviticus 18:21 This sometimes refers to human sacrifice (chapter 20), but in the context of sexual sins it may include some other form of sexual immorality, such as semen dedication.
  3. Leviticus 18:22 The person who lies down with someone initiates sexual relations with another person, most often a man with a woman. Usually this term refers to unlawful relations.