Passage
And you have profaned it in that you say: The table of the Lord is defiled: and that which is laid thereupon is contemptible with the fire that devoureth it.
Malachi 1:12 (DRB)
Nearby Context
Malachi 1:10 Who is there among you, that will shut the doors, and will kindle the fire on my altar gratis? I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will not receive a gift of your hand.
Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 1:12 And you have profaned it in that you say: The table of the Lord is defiled: and that which is laid thereupon is contemptible with the fire that devoureth it.
Malachi 1:13 And you have said: Behold of our labour, and you puffed it away, saith the Lord of hosts, and you brought in of rapine the lame, and the sick, and brought in an offering: shall I accept it at your hands, saith the Lord?
Malachi 1:14 Cursed is the deceitful man that hath in his flock a male, and making a vow offereth in sacrifice that which is feeble to the Lord: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the Gentiles.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "profaned", "table", "lord", "defiled", "laid", "thereupon", "contemptible", and "fire". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "profaned" and "table", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 11's "For from the rising of the sun..." into verse 13's "And you have said Behold of our...", so "profaned" and "table" 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 "profaned" and "table" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.