One of the motivations of the translation committee of the ESV is the tendency of modern tranlations toward gender neutrality. The NIV had the potentional to be the next "universal" English translation until Zondervan decided to revise the NIV and eliminate as many gender specific references as possible.
I like the ESV because it follows in the tradition of The KJV-RSV-ESV. It is the modern translation that is most closly related to the KJV lineage other the NKJV which is for the most part the KJV with the Thees and Thous removed. When our church has a permanent facility the ESV will be our pew bible.
There is something magical about the language in the King James that is lost if one disposes of the "Yea, verily's" and the "Whither goest's." I'm not saying that the language should be inaccessible, but for pure poetic purposes, "modernizing" Scriptural English is like rewriting a Shakespeare sonnet in ebonics.
The words should be as majestic as the spirit they try to convey.