During all this time the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was exempt from these inflictions. Pharaoh must have known this and he must have begun to understand that their God punished those who refused to do as He told them, but he was obstinate and still refused his consent. It required another and a more severe judgment before Pharaoh consented to let the children of Israel go. It was now the month of Nisan or Abib, which means the "month of green ears," and in consequence of what occurred at that time Abib has ever since been the first month of the Hebrew sacred year. By God's command the blood of a lamb was to be sprinkled upon the sides and top of the doorway to every Israelitish home. The lamb itself was to be roasted and eaten by the family, who were to be dressed for a journey and ready to start on it at a moment's notice. At midnight the tenth and last judgment fell on the Egyptians. A wail of anguish rose from every home in the land, for the first-born child in every home lay dead. The angel of death had entered the palace of the King and the hovel of his poorest subject alike, sparing only the homes where the blood-sprinkled doorways told of God's protection. Convinced at last that he could not successfully combat the God of the Israelites, Pharaoh now begged Moses to hasten their departure, and the Egyptian people were so anxious to have them out of the land that they gave them jewels and clothing to induce them to go quickly. So the whole Israelitish nation--some six hundred thousand men without counting the women and children--set forth, on foot and in the night, under the leadership of Moses, for the land of Canaan. With them they took the coffin containing the embalmed body of Joseph, which had been carefully kept in Egypt since his death. And God showed them the way they were to go by having a cloud move before them in the daytime, and gave it the appearance of fire at night. [Illustration: "The appearance of fire at night."] "THE APPEARANCE OF FIRE AT NIGHT." The shortest way to the Promised Land, which lay along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, led through the country of the Philistines, a warlike people who afterwards became the inveterate enemies of the Israelites, but with whom they were not now able to contend. So they traveled in a southeasterly direction until they came to that part of the Red Sea which is now called the Gulf of Suez. Pharaoh in the meanwhile had recovered from his terror and remorse, and with a mighty army was pursuing the Israelites, intending to take them back to Egypt. He first came in sight of them encamped upon the African border of the Gulf. When the Israelites knew that they were pursued they turned angrily upon Moses and Aaron for taking them away from Egypt. But Moses told them to trust God for He would not let Pharaoh overtake them.