My personal choice is also ESV. I don't agree with everything totally, but when I took Hebrew and Greek, we compared to various English translations what the original languages said, and ESV was the top translation in about 95% of the cases.
But it is a bit more stilted, because it is word for word, not dynamic. Thus it follows the words, and doesn't do the thoughts or phrases.
The Message is a paraphrase, like the NLT. That means more of less that the translator reads the original language, then thinks about it a while, then writes in English what he thinks it means to him. In addition, the Message was translated by only one man, Eugene Peterson, so you are definitely going to get a bias towards his thinking and theology.
While committees may not be perfect, at least there are a variety of opinions, and some compromise on translating the words.
But at this point, I think the OP just needs to dig into a version, and be consistent about reading. God will lead the OP to different versions as time progresses which will add him in his spiritual growth.