¹⁶ Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children.^(A) So do whatever God has told you.”

⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock^(A) and has given them to me.^(B)

³⁵ That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs,^(A) and he placed them in the care of his sons.^{(B) 36} Then he put a three-day journey^(C) between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond^(D) and plane trees^(E) and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.^{(F) 38} Then he placed the peeled branches^(G) in all the watering troughs,^(H) so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat^(I) and came to drink, ³⁹ they mated in front of the branches.^(J) And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.^{(K) 40} Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals^(L) that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger females were in heat,^(M) Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,^{(N) 42} but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.^{(O) 43} In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.^(P)

Jacob Flees From Laban

31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons^(Q) were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”^(R)