The Spotted Flocks

25And it happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own land.”

26Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, so that I may go; for you know the service with which I have served you.

27Then Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.”

28Then he said, “Name your wages, and I will give it.”

29He said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock has been with me.”

30For the little that you had before me has increased into abundance, and Yahweh has blessed you at my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own household?

31And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it.”

32Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb among the sheep, and every spotted and speckled one among the goats; and that will be my wages.

33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to inspect my wages: every goat that is not speckled and spotted, and every lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen if it is found with me.

34Laban said, “Good—let it be according to your word.”

35That day he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted—every one that had white on it—and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he put them into the care of his sons.

36And he put a distance of three days between himself and Jacob, and Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.

37Then Jacob took for himself fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane tree, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was on the rods.

38He set the rods that he had peeled in the troughs, in the watering channels where the flock came to drink, in front of the flock; and they mated when they came to drink.

39So the flock mated by the rods, and the flock bore striped, speckled, and spotted young.

40And Jacob separated the lambs, and he set the faces of the flock toward the striped and all the dark-colored among Laban's flock. Then he set apart flocks for himself, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

41And whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would place the rods before the eyes of the flock in the watering troughs, so that they might breed among the rods.

42But when the flock were feeble, he would not put them in; so the feeble ones became Laban’s, and the strong ones Jacob’s.

43And the man became exceedingly prosperous, and he came to have many flocks and female servants and male servants and camels and donkeys.