A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, priests, that despise my name. But ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Malachi 1:4 If Edom say, We are broken down, but we will build again the ruined places, thus saith Jehovah of hosts: They shall build, but I will throw down; and [men] shall call them the territory of wickedness, and the people against whom Jehovah hath indignation for ever.
Malachi 1:5 And your eyes shall see [it], and ye shall say, Jehovah is magnified beyond the border of Israel.
Malachi 1:6 A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, priests, that despise my name. But ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Malachi 1:7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.
Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Present it now unto thy governor: will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith Jehovah of hosts.
The verse centers on "honoureth", "father", "servant", "master", "where", and "mine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "honoureth" and "father", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And your eyes shall see it and..." into verse 7's "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar...", so "honoureth" and "father" belong inside that flow. In Malachi context, the local focus is covenant faithfulness, priestly corruption, divine justice, and the coming day of the LORD.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "honoureth" and "father" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.