Genesis 30:38-40

Contemporary English Version

³⁸ Then he put the branches where the sheep and goats would see them^[a] while they were drinking from the water trough. The goats mated there ³⁹ in front of the branches, and their young were spotted and speckled.

⁴⁰ Some of the sheep that Jacob was keeping for Laban were already spotted. And when the others were ready to mate, he made sure that they faced in the direction of the spotted and black ones. In this way, Jacob built up a flock of sheep for himself and did not put them with the other sheep.