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for them to commit such impieties. For by the will of God the union of a man and a woman comes to be with righteousness; for he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and he blessed them and said: "Increase and multiply and fill the earth." If, therefore, by the will of God a differentiation of forms has come to be for the generation of a multitude, then the union of the male with the female is also according to his will, but not the abominable mixing that is contrary to nature or the lawless act, which is hostile to God. For the sin of the Sodomites and that with irrational animals is contrary to nature, and adultery and fornication are lawless, of which some are impieties, others are injustice, and the last are sins, and none of them goes unpunished according to its own disposition. For the first plot the dissolution of the world, by attempting to do what is according to nature contrary to nature; the second, some commit injustice by corrupting others' marriages and divide into two what was made one by God, making the children objects of suspicion and the natural husband easily plotted against, and fornication is a corruption of one's own flesh, not being for the purpose of procreation, but gratifying pleasure completely, which is a symbol of intemperance, but not a sign of virtue. But all these things are forbidden by the laws. For the oracles say thus: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman, for such a one is accursed, and you shall stone them with stones, they have committed an abomination; everyone who lies with a beast, you shall kill him, he has committed lawlessness among the people; and if anyone defiles a married woman, you shall kill them both, they have committed lawlessness, they are guilty, let them die." And what follows: "There shall be no male prostitute among the sons of Israel, and there shall be no female prostitute from the daughters of Israel; you shall not bring the hire of a prostitute nor the price of a dog to the altar of the Lord your God; for vows from the hire of a courtesan, it says, are not pure." The laws forbade these things, but they honored marriage, calling it blessed, since God, who joined the female to the male, also blessed it. And somewhere the wise Solomon also says: "A wife is joined to a husband by the Lord." And David says: "Your wife like a fruitful vine in the inner parts of your house, your sons like young olive plants around your table; behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." Therefore, marriage is honorable and revered and the generation of children is pure; for nothing evil exists in what is good.

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αὐτοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀσεβεῖν. Θεοῦ γὰρ γνώμῃ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς συνέλευσις γίνεται ἡ μετὰ δικαιοσύνης· ὁ ποιήσας γὰρ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτοὺς, καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ εἶπεν· «Aὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν.» Eἰ τοίνυν Θεοῦ βουλήσει παραλλαγὴ σχημάτων γέγονεν πρὸς γένεσιν πλήθους, ἄρα κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ γνώμην καὶ ἡ συνέλευσις τοῦ ἄρρενος πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ, οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ ἡ παρὰ φύσιν βδελυκτὴ μῖξις ἢ ἡ παράνομος πρᾶξις, ἐχθρὰ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχουσα. Καὶ γὰρ παρὰ φύσιν ἐστὶν ἡ Σοδομιτῶν ἁμαρτία καὶ ἡ πρὸς ἄλογα, παράνομον δὲ μοιχεία καὶ πορνεία, ὧν δὴ τὰ μὲν ἀσεβήματα, τὰ δὲ ἀδικία καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἁμαρτήματα, οὐδέτερον δὲ αὐτῶν ἀτιμώρητον κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν διάθεσιν. Oἵ τε γὰρ πρῶτοι διάλυσιν κόσμου μηχανῶνται, τὰ κατὰ φύσιν παρὰ φύσιν ἐπιχειροῦντες ποιεῖν· οἱ δὲ δεύτεροι οἱ μὲν ἀδικοῦσιν ἀλλοτρίους γάμους φθείροντες καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ γενόμενον ἓν διαιροῦσιν εἰς δύο τούς τε παῖδας ὑπόπτους καὶ τὸν φυσικὸν ἄνδρα εὐεπιβούλευτον, ἥ τε πορνεία φθορὰ τῆς οἰκείας σαρκός ἐστί, οὐκ ἐπὶ παιδοποιΐᾳ γινομένη, ἀλλ' ἡδονῇ χαριζομένη τὸ πᾶν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀκρασίας σύμβολον, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀρετῆς σημεῖον. Ἀπηγόρευται δὲ τοῖς νόμοις ἅπαντα ταῦτα. Φησὶν γὰρ τὰ λόγια οὕτως· «Oὐ κοιμηθήσῃ μετὰ ἄρρενος κοίτην γυναικείαν, ἐπικατάρατος γὰρ ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ λίθοις λιθο βολήσατε αὐτούς, βδέλυγμα ἐποίησαν· πάντα κοιμώμενον μετὰ κτήνους, ἀποκτείνατε αὐτόν, ἀνομίαν ἐποίησεν ἐν τῷ λαῷ· καὶ ἐάν τις γυναῖκα ὕπανδρον μιάνῃ, ἀποκτείνατε ἀμφοτέρους, ἀνομίαν ἐποίησαν, ἔνοχοί εἰσιν, ἀποθανέτω σαν.» Καὶ ἑξῆς· «Oὐκ ἔσται πορνεύων ἐν υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται πορνεύουσα ἀπὸ θυγατέρων Ἰσραήλ· οὐ προσοίσεις μίσθωμα πόρνης κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον οὔτε ἄλλαγμα κυνός· οὐ γὰρ ἁγναί, φησίν, εὐχαὶ ἐκ μισθώματος ἑταίρας.» Ταῦτα μὲν ἀπηγόρευσαν οἱ νόμοι, τὸν δὲ γάμον ἐσέμνυναν, εὐλογημένον αὐτὸν ἀποκαλέσαντες, ἐπειδὴ καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς ὁ συζεύξας τὸ θῆλυ τῷ ἄρρενι. Λέγει δέ που καὶ ὁ σοφὸς Σολομών· «Παρὰ Κυρίου ἁρμόζεται γυνὴ ἀνδρί.» Καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγει· «Ἡ γυνή σου ὡς ἄμπελος εὐθηνοῦσα ἐν τοῖς κλίτεσι τῆς οἰκίας σου, οἱ υἱοί σου ὡς νεόφυτα ἐλαιῶν κύκλῳ τῆς τραπέζης σου· ἰδοὺ οὕτως εὐλογηθήσεται ἄνθρωπος ὁ φοβούμενος τὸν Κύριον.» Oὐκοῦν ὁ γάμος τίμιος καὶ σεμνὸς καὶ ἡ τῶν παίδων γένεσις καθαρά· οὐδὲν γὰρ κακὸν ἐν τῷ καλῷ ὑπάρχει.