³⁶ Then he put a three-day journey^(A) 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^(B) and plane trees^(C) and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.^{(D) 38} Then he placed the peeled branches^(E) in all the watering troughs,^(F) so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat^(G) and came to drink,