37. Then Jacob cut green branches from poplar and almond trees. He stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.
38. He put the branches in front of the flocks at the watering places. When the animals came to drink, they also mated in that place.
39. Then when the goats mated in front of the branches, the young that were born were spotted, striped, or black.
40. Jacob separated the spotted and the black animals from the other animals in the flock. He kept his animals separate from Laban’s.
41. Any time the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes. The animals mated near those branches.
42. But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the young animals born from the weak animals were Laban’s. And the young animals born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s.
43. In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many servants, camels, and donkeys.