As far as I'm concerned 'to lay' is a transitive verb used with a direct object e.g. The hen lays eggs. 'To lie' (not meaning tell an untruth) is an intransitive verb used without a direct object e.g. I lie down to sleep. If I lay down in bed, I did it last night, i.e. past tense of the verb to lie. I might lay a book down, in which case the book is the object so 'to lay' is fine. If I tell someone to lay down, that's wrong but it's creeping in to everyday speech and writing. I don't like it.
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