What helped me start reading the bible

I grew up only reading the King James bible, now I am not saying there is anything wrong with it but if you are like me then you will find that it is actually more harmful for beginners when it comes to getting into the bible. The king James is written very differently compared to modern English and for the majority of people is very hard to understand if you do not study the old language it was written in. I would not doubt that the translation might be more accurate to the original ancient texts but it was not until I gave up the King James and switched to versions like the ESV that I really started getting into the word of God. It is hard to give it up at first, it sounds so eloquent and fancy, the way they say thou and art and other things, I had a very hard time transitioning at first, but then I was honest with myself and admitted I have no idea what I am even reading and I constantly am backtracking, the translated newer versions by themselves are hard enough to understand so how do you plan to understand something even harder? I recommend that if you do wish to read the King James that you first become knowledgeable with the easier to read versions first, and studying old English would help greatly. This is all my opinions in the end so do what feels best for you, but for me switching over from the KJV to my ESV was the best decision for my spiritual life I ever made.