35. But that day Laban took away all the male goats that had streaks or spots, all the speckled and spotted female goats (all those that had white on them), and all the black sheep. He told his sons to watch over them.
36. Then he took these animals to a place that was three days’ journey away from Jacob. Jacob took care of all the flocks that were left.
37. So Jacob cut green branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled 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 there,
39. so the flocks mated in front of the branches. Then the young that were born were streaked, speckled, or spotted.