dead sea scrolls

i was talking to my mom on the phone last night, and she told me that she and steve and a group of our neighbors are all going downtown to the museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls (or they already went? it was a short conversation, mentioned in passing...). anyways, i never really knew much about the Dead Sea Scrolls, or had really realized their implications, so i did a little research, and here's what i found:

(this part from wiki): The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of about 900 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in the present day West Bank. The texts are of great religious and historical significance, as they include the oldest known surviving copies of Biblical and extra-biblical documents and preserve evidence of great diversity in late Second Temple Judaism. They are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, mostly on parchment, but with some written on papyrus. These manuscripts generally date between 150 BCE to 70 CE.

i wanted to see for myself how accurate our Bible really is, since it's something that's really important to me. i guess Isaiah was one of the best preserved or most complete books found in the DSS, so the few verses below are the "one God" verses pulled from Isaiah. (DSS is Dead Sea Scrolls, KJV is King James Version of the Bible, and LXX is the Septaguint, or the Koine Greek version of the Bible, translated between 100-300BCE in alexandria. remember that YHWH and LORD are both what we would say as Jehovah in english.):

Isaiah 42:5-8
(DSS): "Thus says The God (ha-el) and God (elohiym), the creator of the heavens, (and stretched them out in the firmament) and the earth, and that which comes out of it; the Giver of breath (neshamah) to the people upon it, and spirit to those walking in it:... I am YHWH that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to idols."
 

(KJV): "Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein... I am the LORD; that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
 

(LXX): "Thus saith the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it... I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images."

Isaiah 43:10-11
(DSS): "You are my witnesses, says YHWH, and my servant whom I have chosen: so that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, nor after me will there be. I, even I, am YHWH; and beside me there is no savior."
 

(KJV): "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior."
 

(LXX): "Be ye my witnesses, and I too am a witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know, and believe, and understand that I am he: before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none. I am God; and beside me there is no Savior."

Isaiah 44:6
(DSS): "Thus says YHWH the King of Israel, and his Redeemer YHWH of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
 

(KJV): "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
 

(LXX): " Thus saith God the King of Israel, and the God of Hosts that delivered him (Israel); I am the first, and I am hereafter: beside me there is no God."

Isaiah 44:24
(DSS): "Thus says YHWH, your redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb, I am YHWH maker of all things; stretching out the heavens alone; spreading abroad the earth by myself"
 

(KJV): "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself"
 

(LXX): "Thus saith the Lord that redeems thee, and who formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that performs all things: I stretched out the heaven alone, and established the earth."

Isaiah 45:5-7
(DSS): " I am YHWH, and there is no one else, and beside me there is no God I girded you, and you did not know me: So that they will know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am YHWH, and there is no one else. I am the former of the light, and creator of darkness: making good, and creating evil: I YHWH am doing all these things."
 

(KJV): "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me, I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the LORD do all these things."
 

(LXX): "For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God beside me; I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me. That they that come from the east and they that come from the west may know that there is no God but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none beside. I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things."

Isaiah 45:18-22
(DSS): "For thus says YHWH creator of the heavens; He is the God and He formed the earth and made it; and he prepared it, He did not create it void, he formed it to be inhabited: I am YHWH; and there is no one else.... there is no other God beside me; a righteous God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Turn to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: because I am God, and there is no other."
 

(KJV): "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else... there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
 

(LXX): "Thus saith the Lord that made the heaven, this God that created the earth, and made it; he marked it out, he made it not in vain, but formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none beside. ... I am God, and there is not another beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none but me. Turn ye to me, and ye shall be saved, ye that come from the end of the earth: I am God, and there is none other."

i think it's astounding that there really is such accuracy between documents translated nearly 200 years before Christ's birth and those we have today. they're so accurate that it makes God's presence here on earth pretty evident to me...how else could a document stay exactly the same over the past 2,000+ years!? the work of the Holy Spirit is so evident that that i don't think i even have anything else to say...and that might be a first!

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_sea_scrolls

http://www.ccel.org/bible/brenton/

http://web.archive.org/web/20080630052414/http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/qa-tran.htm