³⁷ So Jacob cut ·green [fresh] ·branches [rods] from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off some of the bark so that the ·branches [rods] had white stripes on them. ³⁸ He put the ·branches [rods] in front of the flocks at the watering ·places [troughs]. When the animals came to drink, they ·also mated there [^Lwere in heat], ³⁹ so the flocks mated in front of the branches [rods]. Then the young that were born were streaked, speckled, or spotted [^Csince nothing in Jacob’s strategy would have produced this result, God must have done it]. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the young animals from the others, and he made them face the streaked and dark animals in Laban’s flock. Jacob kept his animals separate from Laban’s. ⁴¹ When the stronger animals in the flock were ·mating [^Lin heat], Jacob put the ·branches [rods] before their eyes so they would mate near the branches. ⁴² But when the ·weaker [feebler] animals ·mated [^Lwere in heat], Jacob did not put the ·branches [rods] there. So the animals born from the ·weaker [feebler] animals were Laban’s, and those born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. ⁴³ In this way ·Jacob [^Lthe man] became very rich. He had large flocks, many male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.