36 and they took them three days' distance from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for Laban's flock.
37 Now Jacob took fresh shoots from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of the bark to make white streaks on them.
38 Then he set up these peeled branches beside the watering troughs so Laban's flocks would see them as they came to drink, for that was when they mated.
39 So when the flocks mated in front of the white-streaked branches, all of their offspring were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
40 Jacob added them to his own flock, thus separating the lambs from Laban's flock. Then at mating time, he turned the flocks toward the streaked and dark-colored rams in Laban's flock. This is how he built his flock from Laban's.
41 Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob set up the peeled branches in front of them.
42 But he didn't do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob's.
43 As a result, Jacob's flocks increased rapidly, and he became very wealthy, with many servants, camels, and donkeys.
Read Genesis 31
