Acts 24:17-18

Rather than desecrating the temple (Acts 24:6) Paul said he had returned to Jerusalem to give money to the Jews there and to present worship offerings in the temple. His gift was for the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Yet since Paul’s desire was that they would evangelize the unsaved Jews there, he could honestly say that he had brought alms to his nation. [Note: Adolph Harnack, The Date of the Acts and of the Synoptic Gospels, p. 74.] "Alms" refers to the collection for the poor Jewish Christians, and "offerings" to Paul’s paying the expenses of the four men who had taken a vow (Acts 21:23-26). He had completed the purification rites in an orderly manner when other Jews stirred up dissension and started a riot.