The Tomb Dwellers

Ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἄφρων καὶ ἄνους ἀπολουνται, καὶ καταλείψουσιν ἀλλοτρίοις τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῶν. Καὶ οἱ τάφοι αὐτῶν οἰκίαι αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Τούτων δὲ αἱ οἰκίαι, τοῦ ἄφρονος καὶ τοῦ ἀνοήτου, τάφοι εἰσὶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ὥν γὰρ  ὁ βίος νεκρῶν ἔργων τῶν ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας πεπλήρωται, τούτων γενόμενος τοῖς παραπτώμασιν οὐκ οἰκίαν οἰκεὶ, ἀλλὰ τάφον, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς νενεκρωμένης. Οἰκίαν μὲν γὰρ οἰκεῖ ὁ ἄδολος τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁπλοὺς Ἰακὼβ, περὶ οὗ γέγραπται, ὅτι ἧν Ἄνθρωπος ἄπλαστος καὶ ἀγαθὸς, οἰκῶν οἰκίαν· τάφον δὲ οἰκεῖ ὁ παμπόνηρος, μηδὲ θεμέλιον μετανοίας καταβαλλόμενος ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων, ἀλλὰ παροιμοιάζων τάφῳ κεκεονιαμένῳ· ὃς ἔξωθεν μὲν ἐμφανὴς ὤν, ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμων ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας. Διόπερ ὁ τοιοῦτος φθεγγόμενος οὐχὶ στόμα ἀνοίγει λόγῳ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τάφον ἔχει ἀνεῳγμένον τὸν λάρυγγα αὐτοῦ. Εἴ τις οὖν εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύων, μὴ ἀκολούθως τῇ πίστει τὰς πράξεις ἀποδίδωσιν, οὗτος διὰ τὸ μοχθηροῖς δόγμασι προσεσχηκέναι, διὰ τὸ παρτῇ πέτρᾳ μνημεῖον.  Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΗ' Ψαλμον

'Alike the foolish and witless perish and they leave their goods to strangers and their tombs are their houses into eternity.' 1  The houses of these, the foolish and witless, are tombs into eternity, for their life being replete with the dead works of every sin, their dead souls bring them to dwell not in a house but a tomb. For the innocent and simple Jacob kept to his dwelling, concerning which it is written, 'He was a man honest and good, keeping his dwelling,' 2 but in a tomb dwells the man who is altogether evil, and not making a foundation of penance for his dead works he is like the whitened tomb, which from the outside shines, but within it is full of bones and every uncleanliness. 3 Thus such a one when he speaks does not open the mouth with the word of God but his throat is like an open tomb. 4 And if one of them has faith in in Christ, he does not yield deeds consonant with the faith, for taking to the corrupting of the teachings he carves in stone his tomb.  Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 48 1 Ps 48.11-12 2 Gen 25.27 3 Mt 23.27 4 Ps 5.11, Ps 13.3